Beavers rally comes up short

NEW YORK — Alabama appeared to be in control of the game. The Crimson Tide was hitting 3-pointers and forcing turnovers while building a 15-point lead over Oregon State.

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By The Associated Press

MailTribune.com

By The Associated Press

Posted Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 16, 2012 at 2:50 AM

By The Associated Press

Posted Nov. 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 16, 2012 at 2:50 AM

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NEW YORK — Alabama appeared to be in control of the game. The Crimson Tide was hitting 3-pointers and forcing turnovers while building a 15-point lead over Oregon State.

Things changed in a hurry as the cushion started to disappear and the Beavers suddenly started taking care of the ball.

Even though Oregon State was able to tie the game with 43 seconds left, Alabama had one last big play left and it turned into a 65-62 victory Thursday night in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project.

Rodney Cooper hit a 3-pointer from right in front of the Alabama bench with 12.2 seconds left to give the Crimson Tide (3-0) the win.

"We were able to get them down in the second half but they were able to fight back," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "I thought our guys did a great job of making plays we needed down the stretch, especially with Cooper hitting the 3 that gave us the game."

Alabama spread the court for the big shot and ran down the shot clock. Cooper let the ball go with 6 seconds left on the shot clock and it went through. Cooper said the play was just a case of one of his teammates finding him when he was open.

"Trevor (Lacey) came off a screen and he just found me in the corner," said Cooper, who finished with 12 points. "My teammates have confidence in me to take shots like that."

Alabama led 52-37 with 12:31 to play on a 3-pointer by Lacey, who led the Crimson Tide with 20 points.

The Beavers (2-1) stopped turning the ball over and took advantage of a shooting slump by Alabama to tie the score at 62 when Devon Collier made two free throws with 43 seconds to play.

After Cooper's shot, Oregon State turned the ball over with 3.6 seconds left. Cooper missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 3.1 seconds to go, but Oregon State's final shot by Roberto Nelson at the buzzer was challenged and off the mark.

"This was an opportunity lost," said Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, the brother-in-law of President Barack Obama. "This might be a lesson for us when we look back at the end of the season."

There were nine lead changes in the final 8:19 of the first half, and a driving reverse layup by Releford gave Alabama a 35-32 halftime lead.

Alabama opened the second half on a 12-2 run as Cooper and Lacey started it with 3-pointers to match the first-half total. The lead reached 15 points as Alabama kept forcing Oregon State into turnovers. The Crimson Tide forced an average of 19 turnovers in their first two games, and Oregon State finished with one more than that.

"You can't turn the ball over against any team, let alone an SEC team," Robinson said. "But I loved the way we came back."

The Beavers were able to make their run by stopping the turnovers. They went 10 minutes between miscues while cutting the lead.

Alabama won its opening game of the season against South Dakota State when Lacey hit a 3 at the buzzer for a 70-67 win.

After taking care of the ball in its opener, Arizona (2-0) had some careless moments against UTEP, turning it over 19 times. The Wildcats also fouled a little too much, particularly in the second half, which let the Miners keep it close for a while.

No. 13 UCLA 100,James Madison 70

At Los Angeles, Norman Powell scored a career-high 27 points, Jordan Adams added 25 and UCLA routed James Madison in regional play of the Legends Classic.

Adams had 21 points in the season opener against Indiana State and 26 points against UC Irvine on Tuesday, making him the first freshman in school history to score 20-plus points in his first three games. He made all seven of his free throws, extending his streak to 23 in a row.

Stanford 69, Alcorn State 51

At Stanford, Calif., Josh Huestis scored a career-high 18 points, leading Stanford to a victory.

Chasson Randle added 10 points and Dwight Powell grabbed 10 rebounds for the Cardinal (3-0), who have won nine straight dating to last year's run to the Postseason NIT tournament title.

Colorado 67, Dayton 57

At Charleston, S.C., Askia Booker scored 16 points and Colorado used a 13-0 run in the second half to hold off Dayton to start the Charleston Classic.

The Buffaloes (2-0) trailed 37-30 with 14 minutes left when Xavier Johnson got the surge started with 3-pointer. Spencer Dinwiddie put Colorado ahead with a three-pointer. Johnson added a pair of foul shots and Andre Roberson made a basket for a 43-37 lead.

Johnson finished with 15 points, Josh Scott 13 and Dinwiddie 12 for Colorado. Roberson, third in the country in rebounds last season, had 14 boards to go with six points. Vee Sanford led Dayton (1-1) with 13 points. Last year's leading scorer for the Flyers, Kevin Dillard, scored all of his 10 points in the second half.